[Short 3/4]

Originally Posted by panel fan

For what its worth, the rear end of my 1962 c 30 is sporting a HO 72 which came with the apparently rare 5.38 gears and as I'm not in the stump removal field I went on the hunt for alternate gearing . I've managed to scrounge up 4 more third member's with ratios 5:13 , 4:57 , 4:10 and a 3:90 which I found in a early 50s one ton panel.
I'm in the Toronto area in Canada and am not sure if the 5:38 and the 3:90 gears were more common in this area or if I just lucked out. The 5:38 is the only third member that doesn't have a side thrust adjustment screw.
I'm still running the original 235 matched to a t5 trans with a .72 0/d and have found that the 4:57 works best .
The only flaw in this set up is the lack of park brake which had been part of the original trans. I see where a kit is available for the 9 in. ford rear end to mount a disc on the drive shaft and a caliper on the rear end to achieve a park brake. Has any one tried any thing like that?

Plenty of HO 52 and 72 equipped trucks came with the parking brake on the rear rather than the trans. I would think that it would be easier to adapt one of those set ups to yours. In theory a bolt on change, and if you use something from a later truck you get self adjusters in the deal. Something to consider